Cream cheese is a soft, mild acid-coagulated uncured cheese made of cream from a mixture of cream and milk. Cream cheese is stored under refrigeration conditions and the body of cream cheese is smooth and butter-like. The texture and body of cream cheese at refrigeration temperatures is such that the cream cheese can be sliced and spread. In making cream cheese, sweet whole milk and/or skim milk and sweet cream are blended in pre-selected proportions to form a cream cheese mix. The cream cheese mix normally has a butterfat content of from about 10% to about 14%. After processing, the finished cream cheese has a butterfat content of from about 33% to about 35% by weight.
The cream cheese mix is pasteurized and homogenized after which it is cooled, usually to a temperature between 62.degree. F. and 92.degree. F. and is then inoculated with a lactic acid culture. Rennet may be used to aid the coagulation of the mix. The mix is held at the inoculation temperature until it has ripened and a coagulum is formed. The acidity of the coagulum is from about 0.6% to about 0.9% (calculated as percent equivalent lactic acid).
After the desired acidity is obtained, the curd is separated from the whey and is thereafter packaged. One well known process for making cream cheese and separating cream cheese curd from whey includes a mechanical separation of the curd. This process is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,387,276 to Link. In accordance with the method of the Link patent, after the mix is ripened to form a coagulum, the coagulum is heated to an elevated temperature to break the viscosity of the mix. Thereafter, the heated mix is centrifuged at the elevated temperature to separate the curd from the whey.
There has been considerable technical efforts directed to providing a cream cheese type product which has the texture, smoothness and organoleptic properties of cream cheese, but with reduced levels of fat. With increasing consumer awareness, the focal point is on reducing fat and calorie consumption. Low fat, low calorie foods which look and taste similar to their full fat, higher calorie counterparts are eagerly sought by the consumer. Researchers in the food industry have concentrated on developing food products which are nutritious and palatable, containing substantially reduced levels of high calorie fat containing ingredients. This is particularly true in the dairy industry where low calorie, low-fat products such as skim milk, yogurt and reduced fat ice cream have been successfully marketed.
The high fat levels in some dairy products, such as cream cheese which has a fat content of at least about 33%, have been thought to be necessary to maintain a desirable creamy mouthfeel and to avoid the grainy texture associated with prior attempts at producing low fat cream cheese products.
Many efforts have been made to develop imitation cream cheese products which contain reduced fat levels. Examples of such efforts are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,161,159 to Lundstedt, et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 3,929,892 to Hynes, et al. However, the fat content of the cream cheese products produced by the methods of these patents still exceeds about 10% fat. It would be desirable to reduce the fat content well below 10%. In particular, it would be highly desirable to provide a non-fat cream cheese product.
More recently, methods have been developed for making very low butterfat content imitation cream cheese products having low calorie contents which are intended for diet conscious consumers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,983 to Baker and U.S. Pat. 4,379,175 to Baker disclose imitation cream cheese products and a method for their manufacture having butterfat content of less than about 5%, preferably less than about 2% and which have about 60 calories per serving. However, as admitted by the inventor of these patents, in U.S. Pat. 4,724,152 to Baker, that, while the very low butterfat content of these products is desirable, the products do not closely duplicate the creamy and full-bodied consistency of full fat cream cheese.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,152 to Baker describes a method for making a low fat cream cheese product. The method includes the steps of admixing milk, a fat containing carrier and non-fat dry milk solids to form a dressing mixture. The dressing mixture is pasteurized and homogenized and is thereafter heated to a temperature in the range of from about 145.degree. to about 195.degree. F., preferably 165.degree. to 190.degree. F., with constant agitation. A stabilizer is admixed into the mixture. Thereafter, while maintaining the temperature of the mixture in a range of 150.degree. to 175.degree. F., soft unripened cultured cheese curd, such as cottage or baker's cheese curd is added to the stabilizer-containing dressing mix. The admixture is pumped to a homogenizer where it is homogenized under conventional elevated pressure conditions of 500 to 5000 psig, preferably 1500 to 3000 psig. Following homogenization, the imitation cream cheese product, at temperatures of at least 40.degree. F., is packaged into convenient packages.
While the '152 Baker patent provides a cream cheese product with reduced fat, i.e., a fat level in the range of 2 to 9% by weight, the Baker patent does not provide a non-fat cream cheese product.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a non-fat cream cheese type product, having the appearance, taste, consistency and texture of fat-containing cream cheese.
It is another object to provide a method for making an imitation cream cheese product which has substantially no fat and which is adapted to large scale commercial operations.
These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description.